Drainage tube holder for hospital beds



Au 29, 1967 G R HE' 3,338,538

DRAINAGE TUBE HOLDER FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Filed July 26, 1965 FIG. I r

INVENTOR. MATILDA ROCHE ATTORNEY United States Patent Ofilice 3,338,538 Patented Aug. 29, 1967 3,338,538 DRAINAGE TUBE HOLDER FOR HOSPITAL BEDS Matilda G. Roche, 3736 SE. Madison St., Portland, Oreg. 97214 Filed July 26, 1965, Set. No. 474,731 4 Claims. (Cl. 248--75) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in drainage tube holders for hospital beds.

In the treatment of hospital bed patients, drainage tubes are often used for carrying oif body fluids, either by gravity flow or forced flow, to suitable receptacle means usually located under the bed. One end of the drainage tube is attached to the patient and the other end is associated with the receptacle means. It is desired, too, to anchor the tube intermediate its ends to the bed. To accomplish this, the tube is usually anchored to the mattress by safety pins or the like which are unsatisfactory since they are time consuming to use and in addition cause damage to the sheets of the bed.

It is accordingly a primary objective of the present invention to provide a drainage tube holder for hospital beds which is attachable to the bed without causing any damage to the sheets or the like and in addition which has means for readily connecting and disconnecting a drainage tube therefrom.

Another object is to provide a drainage tube holder of the type described which is arranged to receive such a tube in a slight frictional grip whereby the tube will remain substantially fixed in the holder but nevertheless is slidable for axial or lengthwise movement if necessary.

Another object is to provide in a first embodiment a holder arranged to be secured to the bed and having a top notched portion for removably receiving tubes therein.

Another object is to provide a second embodiment Which utilizes a support and a helical-type spring for removably holding one or more drainage tubes.

Another object is to provide in still another embodiment an upright holder together with a horizontal pivoted arm on the holder and a ring on the free end of the arm arranged removably to receive a drainage tube.

Still another object is to provide a drainage tube holder for hospital beds which has vertical adjustment means for selectively positioning a drainage tube holding portion thereof at a desired height.

Briefly stated the invention comprises an upright holder which has means for attaching it, preferably removably, to a bed. The upright holder employs at its upper end means for removably receiving a drainage tube and at the same time allowing axial movement of the drainage tube therein. The invention will be better understood and additional objects will become apparent from the following specification and claims, considered together with the accompanying drawings, wherein the numerals of reference indicate like parts.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of a first form of the present invention as installed on a hospital bed;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged, offset sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

14 be utilized for the patients which as well known lead from a receptacle 16 beneath the bed. Of course, various other arrangements of receptacles are utilized such as those which are suspended from the bed frame or those which are associated with power suction means. In each case, however, it is desired that the drainage tube 14 coming up from the discharge end thereof be connected intermediate its ends to the upper portion of the bed in order to be selectively positioned according to the needs of the particular patient. In the usual case it is desired that the tube 14 be supported at the upper portion of the bed in a selected position such that it may be adjusted in its axial direction when desired but not being so free in its axial movement as to slide downwardly accidentally.

To accomplish the above, a first embodiment is shown in FIGURE 1. This embodiment comprises a body member 18 which as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 may comprise a flat plate member reinforced by a vertical web 20. The bottom end of the body member has a spring clip 22 thereon, and in a preferred construction the body member 18 itself may be constructed of a somewhat springy or flexible material such as metal or plastic whereby the spring clip 22 may be formed directly therein by bending a lower portion of the body member upwardly. The clip 22 is arranged to be frictionally engaged with the frame portion 10 of the bed, as shown in FIG- URE 2, for supporting the body member 18 in a vertical position.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 1, notched tube holding means comprises apertures 24 in the body member 18 adjacent the upper end thereof and opening through the top edge 26 of the member 18 by narrowed slots 28. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the apertures 24 are of a selected size relative to the diameter of the tube 14 such as to receive the tube in a sliding but not entirely free sliding fit such that when a tube is inserted in the apertures 24 it will not slide freely therethrough. Thus, the apertures 24 are just slightly larger than the outer diameter of the tube 14 to ac- 4 complish a slight frictional engagement with the tube.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational View, partly broken away,

of a second form of the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a side elevational view of the holder of FIGURE 3, taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a third form of the invention.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, the numeral 10 designates the frame portion 10 of a hospital bed and the numeral 12 designates the mattress portion thereof. Frequently it is necessary that drainage tubes The slots 28 are of substantially less width than the outer diameter of the tube, and when the tube is inserted or removed relative to the apertures 24, they must be distorted somewhat and forced through the narrowed slots.

Thus, the body member 18 holds the tube at a point intermediate the patient and the receptacle 16 and above the top surface of the mattress. This holder has the important advantage of supporting a tube in the desired manner while still providing easy insertion and removal of the tube 14. In addition, the tube 14 may be adjusted axially or lengthwise through the apertures merely by pulling or pushing the same, but as stated above, a sufficient frictional grip is obtained on the tube when disposed in the apertures to prevent it from accidentally sliding through the holder.

Although two notched openings 24, 28 are illustrated in the upper end of the body member 18, it is to be understood that a single one, or more than two, may be provided.

FIGURES 3 and 4 show a second embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment there is a body member 30 which telescopically receives a rod 32. Body member 30 has a spring clip 34 secured thereto which serves to mount the holder on a frame portion 10 of the bed as in FIGURE 1. The upper end of the rod 32 carries in horizontal relation a helical spring 36. One or more tubes 14 may be frictionally engaged in respective convolutions of the spring 36, a mounted engagement of a tube in a convolution being accomplished by positioning the tube transversely of the spring and forcing it slightly into the convolution. This manner of mounting provides the desired frictional grip between the tube and the spring and prevents free axial movement of the tube. On the other hand, the tube may be moved axially or lengthwise if desired merely by pulling on the same or by lifting it upwardly a slight amount and accomplishing the desired axial movement before reinstalling it in the spring.

The telescoping engagement of rod 32 in the body member 30 is preferably a substantially tight frictional fit so that the rod will remain vertical where positioned. Thus if it is desired to raise or lower the position of spring 36, depending upon the thickness of mattress or the height at which the spring is to be located with rela tion to a patient, the rod 32 is adjusted in the body member 30.

FIGURE illustrates still another embodiment of the invention. This latter embodiment employs a body member 38 having a spring clip 40 on its bottom end and having a forwardly turned, right angle flange portion 42 on its upper end. Pivotally attached to the upper surface of flange 42, as by means of a pivot pin 44 is an arm 46. The outer end of arm 46 pivotally supports on a transverse axis a spreadable ring 48 arranged to receive a tube 14 therethrough. The pivotal connection between the ring 48 and the arm 46 may be accomplished in any suitable manner such as by turning under a portion 50 in wrapped engagement with a portion of the ring, as shown.

In accordance with this embodiment, the tube 14 is supported at a point inwardly from one edge of the mat tress, and if it is desired to move the upper assembly out of the way, such as when the bed is to be made, the arm 46 is merely swung outwardly relative to the base member to position the tube in an outer position.

The ring 48 obtains a slight frictional grip on the tube 14 and prevents it from sliding freely therethrough. Thus, as in the other embodiments, the tube 14 may be manually moved axially in either direction but nevertheless there is sufficient frictional grip to prevent the tube from sliding freely therethrough.

It is to be understood that the forms of my invention herein shown and described are to be taken as preferred examples of the same and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In combination, a tube holder for hospital beds of the type having side frames and a mattress supported on said frames, comprising a body member having upper and lower ends, means on the lower end of said body member for removably attaching said body member to the frame of a bed in upright position, said body member being of a dimension sufficiently elongated so that the upper end thereof projects above the top of the mattress when attached to the frame of the bed, an elongated flexible tube, and means defining an opening at the upper end of said body member for receiving said tube, said opening having a diameter only slightly greater than the diameter of said tube to receive the latter in an engaging friction fit such that it is anchored against movement in the holder by the hanging weight thereof alongside the bed but is capable of forced movement therein.

2. The tube and holder structure of claim 1 wherein said body member comprises a flat plate having opposed faces and said means for attaching it to a bed being arranged to hold said body member with one face thereof disposed flatwise against the side of the mattress, said opening extending through said body member from one .face thereof to the other whereby the hose is held transversely of the bed.

3. The tube and holder structure of claim 2 wherein said opening is disposed downwardly from the top end of said body member, and means defining a slot leading between said upper end and said opening, said slot being of less width than the diameter of said tube whereby to insert the latter in said opening it is forced radially through said slot in reduced distorted condition.

4. The tube and holder structure of claim 1 wherein said body member comprises a flat plate having opposed faces and said means for attaching it to a bed being arranged to hold said body member with one face thereof disposed flatwise against the side of the mattress, said holder including an arm pivotally attached to the upper end thereof and extending substantially horizontal in a direction arranged to overlie the mattress, the means defining said opening at the upper end of said body member comprising an upstanding ring having its axis directed transversely of the bed for holding the hose.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,253,847 8/ 1941 Crum 248226 2,444,350 6/ 1948 Harpster 2485 1 2,487,5 11/ 1949 Pencek 24851 2,605,624 8/ 1952 Halladay 248226 X FOREIGN PATENTS 586,123 11/1959 Canada. 448,796 8/ 1927 Germany.

ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

CLAUDE A. LEROY, Examiner.

J. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A TUBE HOLDER FOR HOSPITAL BEDS OF THE TYPE HAVING SIDE FRAMES AND A MATTRESS SUPPORTED ON SAID FRAMES, COMPRISING A BODY MEMBER HAVING UPPER AND LOWER ENDS, MEANS ON THE LOWER END OF SAID BODY MEMBER FOR REMOVABLY ATTACHING SAID BODY MEMBER TO THE FRAME OF A BED IN UPRIGHT POSITION, SAID BODY MEMBER BEING OF A DIMENSION SUFFICIENTLY ELONGATED SO THAT THE UPPER END THEREOF PROJECTS ABOVE THE TOP OF THE MATTRESS WHEN ATTACHED TO THE FRAME OF THE BED, AN ELONGATED FLEXIBLE TUBE, AND MEANS DEFINING AN OPENING AT THE UPPER 